Elgar

Mine usually break at the crosshead/connecting rod end! Peters spares were offering valvegear sets for Rebuilt West Country/BOB earlier this year so I bought a couple on the off chance they would fit MN. Was able to fit them but had to separate the metal side pieces from the rear motion bracket and superglue them back having slid the whole assembly forward about 2mm to get the combination levers in the right place. (will need to remove the oval pips atop the motion bracket to allow this)

Thanks Ray, you've gone to a lot of trouble and I much appreciate it. Gulp! Sounds daunting indeed to my nearly 78 year old brain cell! I've now found my headset magnifier and been taking a closer look into this matter! I'm beginning to think that the reason I thought Hornby had fixed the problem is that I had actually removed less of the overhang than I thought which is why the two models look so similar! Measuring up again with my (analogue) micrometer in several places round the circumference shows that, in fact, I hadn't got the front quite "square" so the effect was more noticeable at the top than the bottom. I was (subjectively) quite pleased with the result at the time but you clearly took the better option in leaving the thing alone! Should have known better - for Hornby to alter the mould would have been a major undertaking! I'll try to follow your instructions above just to see if I can manage it even though I don't seem to have anything to contribute just now! Best regards Bob

Hello Ray, Thank you - yes, we're gradually getting back to "normal" again. The items were indeed all Railroad quality as you'd expect at that price. (I notice the latest one has been shorn of its speedo cable to save another 5p!) I must be one of the world's worst photographers but am going to pop off one of the smoke deflectors and try to get a snapshot. I've presently no idea how to get any pic onto RM Web let alone get it to appear in any particular place! Will try to work it out so you can see what current production looks like - hope I won't have made myself too stupid! In the meantime I've measured the dimension from the front boiler band to front of smokebox and make it 37mm. This is the same as the DoG I modified in 2014. If I'm honest, I can't really remember now what that one was like before it was attenuated but do remember it seemed quite a lot of stuff cut away (Certainly the smokebox rivet line was lost during the process and had to be restored) Hope to be in touch again soon. Regards Bob

Hello Ray, Have been out of circulation for best part of two years and came upon this thread while looking for something else! I expect you'll be light years ahead of me but just in case not, I took advantage of a keen special offer at Hattons last week and bought my very first "train set"! (DoG with 3 Pullmans and some other gubbins). Was setting about correcting the smokebox front problem when I noticed that Hornby had already done it for me - just as well as this one has the very firmly glued in type you encountered. Hope you are keeping well, best regards Bob

Hello Ray, I think you are wise to be cautious.There is a very delicate flange round the smokebox door which will definitely not survive abuse! In my ignorance, i had thought that a backup might be made using a Britannia part but that won't work as it is slightly smaller - certainly the opening door part is narrower. I think even the proper DoG door is a bit on the small side. I've been looking at your photo with the brass door dart fitted and can just make out part of the smokebox barrel is exposed - i can see it easier on mine 'cos it's against green plastic where i'd cut. (If i'd realised how close to the wind i'd been sailing would probably not have started!) There is no spare part number (like L5402) on the DoG part so i reckon that this loco was on a strictly "when it's gone, it's gone basis". (Not even the main body has a part ref that i can see) Just had my first look at the tender. Hadn't realised it had a metal frame - did the latest Brits have this? My only Brit tenders have motors in them! Was deeply impressed by what a tight fit Hornby had got with the water strainer tanks until i saw they were integral with the body!! Best regards Bob

Hello Ray & Bluebell! Might just have been lucky but the smokebox door came away quite cleanly without any damage to main body moulding. I just put a finger inside the smokebox with thumb against the front and pushed it out. There was no glue on the top part of mine so it started to hinge forward from the bottom. A bit of coaxing was needed at the bottom where there are 3 locating fingers that engage with 2 runners inside the smokebox floor. There was a bit of glue encountered here which needed some "help" with a scapel. (I needed to trim away some plastic at the angle between smokebox floor/sloping front footplate join to get the door back in flush). Once out, the rebated section inside the 'box is a useful cutting guide to remove the excess length. This does take away the rivet line, of course. I saw a piece years ago whereby small holes can be drilled where the rivets need to be and filled with short pieces of fine rod or stretched sprue. Once properly dry, the excess length can be cut/sanded off. Will try it when feeling brave - think i'll need to draw out the spacing on some paper and glue it on as a guide! Slight note of caution: Either the smokebox or the door of my model is a bit out round as there is slight gap where the door doesn't quite cover the cut edges. I'll check out the base plate contacts. they did look a bit oily when last seen. Best regards Bob

Yes, Ray the brass tube round the reversing rod was to keep it straight - also has the advantage of making it look vaguely circular cross section! Took the opportunity of routing the rod to the correct part of the reversing gearbox at the same time. Didn't mention in my last post that no perceptible change in current draw was observed between the two types of coupling rod. I'm wondering whether I have an issue with the pickups. Am thinking about building a lash up using a tender with some pickups in to see if smoother running results (did something like that to improve one of my Bachmann split chassis Lord Nelsons using a borrowed King Arthur tender and that worked well) Meanwhile have just given myself a little challenge by shortening the DoG's smokebox and now have to restore the highly noticeable nakedness of the rivet line! Regards Bob

Thanks Ray, Don't think I'd expressed things too well re the "quartering". Despite having a wheel quartering jig bought when the excellent Modelspares was still trading, I haven't actually checked my DoG wheelset yet! I was just using the term to describe the symptoms of the problem. I've put the original solid rods back on and run the loco a bit more and it has freed up a bit. Like your CoL my DoG developed a bit of a "waddle" with the jointed rods which is not there with the solids. I'd checked my jointed rods carefully against the originals and they were OK (funny thing is I can't now remember where the hell they came from!) One thing I need to have a look at concerns the crankpins on the centre drivers. On my loco these had not been fully pushed home - thought this might have been to ensure clearance between the return crank and the simulated gearbox of the plastic Caprotti bits. Will try pushing the pins right into the recess provided and see if it makes any difference. (Was interested to note that Hornby has punched the locating hole in the return crank at a slight angle to bring the business end of the crank into alignment with the axle) I'm obsessed with Caprottii stuff and am working on how to get the centre of the gearbox bearing to align with the axle. Have improved the reversing rod problem by cladding it in Albion Alloys brass tube from Expo but it's a bit thick so will have to redo it in the next size down! Incidentally, had an EMail from Hattons today informing me the my order for R3191 was not going to be fulfilled as Hornby had eliminated it from the production list - looks like the whole range is going to be pulled so we'll have to make the most of what we have! Tried ordering a couple of bits from Service Sheet HSS400 but East Kent didn't have any (surprise,surprise!) Feel sure we will speak again. Regards Bob

Had an update from Hattons today to tell me that the R3191 I had preordered would not be delivered as Hornby had "deleted it from the production list". They still expect to get the next batch of R3168's but thereafter looks like the whole range is down the tubes! No reasons offered - hope the majority of people who wanted one of these locos already has one! Bad News Regards Elgar

My loco ran "lumpy" out of the box so decided to try the jointed coupling rod suggestion. First results were disappointing with the loco running even more lumpy going forwards. However, it ran beautifully backwards! The rods I had used were an old, well travelled pair and the rivets on later examination were a bit on the slack side. I conclude that tightness of these rivets is fairly critical. Because the drive is from the rear wheels, any sloppiness is pushed forward so presumably quartering is being disturbed. In reverse, (now "front wheel drive") any slack seems somehow to be distributed more evenly. I'll try re-rivetting my rods but would suggest to anyone trying this solution that not just any old set of rods is going to do the biz!

Just had an E-Mail from Hattons advising that the "pukka" DoG R3191 has been deleted from the production list and no info as to whether it has gone for good Elgar

Re question above "what is the little tank for", i believe these were water strainers. Regards Elgar

Only just got mine yesterday after a very long wait. Excellent value at only £67 and plenty of enjoyable improvement projects to choose from! Mine seems to have the same problems as everyone elses but have picked up on a couple of things nobody seems to have commented on yet. Why has Hornby run the reversing gear rod into the wrong part of the gearbox on the front motion bracket? The connecting rods are back to front on my model and as far as I can see other peoples too. I was initially delighted to spot the moulded steam pipes in front of the chassis block but they all seem to disappear towards the centre cylinder. Has anybody got a solution to this or am I being too fussy?